Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - November 19, 2002
Hamis Kaheru
"I have written to the ministry of health and ministry of education that the whole school should be assembled at the end of every two weeks to talk about AIDS. I didn't say every week because that would be tiresome, but also I didn't want it to be too rare," he said.
"And the headmaster or headmistress should not come to talk nonsense. They should be given guidelines from the ministry.
This must be a pre-digested message from the centre which every headteacher must pass on to the school children who form a third of the population," he said.
Museveni was opening the 36th Commonwealth Regional Health Ministers' Conference at the Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe.
About 33 delegates from 12 countries in East, Central and Southern Africa, plus donor representatives are attending the five-day conference.
Museveni said he made the directive because the school children were highly mobile and did not get time to listen to educative messages on radio.
He said he had categorised AIDS under "diseases of ignorance" like stomach worms and measles which can be stopped through preventive intervention like immunisation, hygiene and nutrition.
"AIDS is not very infectious. You cannot get it by shaking hands and it is very complacent. It just stays where it is unless it is disturbed," he said amid a bout of laughter.
"If a disease can't spread by insect bites, through breathing or casual body contact, then it should be easy to stop," a jovial Museveni said.
He said, "They wait for 10.00am when everybody is at school and adults are in the garden or at work, then they put the message on radio. There is a big advocacy programme going on which costs a lot of billions but the message has not reached its target," he said.
Museveni decried the poor conditions of work for health workers, saying he personally pushed for last year's increase of salaries for doctors and other medical workers.
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